


Scribbled out the truth

by Snowgem33



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Braig is Luxu's student AU, Gen, Ice Cream, Luxu is depressed and slightly insane, Manipulation of a Minor, Self-Hatred, Sharing a Body
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-01-06 14:50:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18390602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snowgem33/pseuds/Snowgem33
Summary: One would think that sharing a body with the man who taught you since childhood would make things more interesting but not much has changed in Braig's life since he started sharing his heart with Luxu.





	Scribbled out the truth

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I know that Braig and Luxu are the same person but this idea hit me over the head and wouldn't leave me alone! Title is from the song CrushCrushCrush by Paramore.

One would think that sharing a body with the man who had trained you since you were a child would make things weird. However, not much has changed in Braig's life.

Luxu was unusually silent for the most part, aside from the occasionally snarky comment on something that Ansem or the other apprentices said or did–and Braig knew himself well enough to know that those thoughts were Luxu's, despite inheriting his Master's sense of humor and jadedness.

Braig was vaguely disappointed, in all honesty.

Luxu suddenly chuckled slyly. "Ah, and here I thought you would appreciate the chance to spend so much time with me! Clearly, I overestimated my importance to you!" He added a couple of convincing sounding but still fake sniffles to emphasize his dramatics.

Despite being out with little Ienzo since it was his turn to get the group sea salt ice cream, Braig rolled his eyes and groaned softly. He could feel Ienzo's dubious gaze boring into him but couldn't bring himself to care. The more suspicious he seemed now, the better in the long run.

He'd stopped falling for such antics pretty quickly as a child, although he'd pretended he hadn't for a while because teasing him seemed to bring Luxu genuine happiness.

"I knew it! You're just humoring an old man you can't get rid of!" His Master's tone was full of false betrayal, anguish and anger. "Hmph! Well I'll just double down on my immovabilty to spite you!"

Even though the man hadn't had a body for a while spending most of his life in Luxu's company meant he could easily picture him sulkily crossing his arms and sticking his nose in the air petulantly. He didn't bother to repress the chuckle this image brought him.

Ienzo's gaze was bordering on a glare by this point. If Braig didn't know better, he'd assume the kid was actually able to see Luxu inside of him.

....Okay, maybe that wasn't the best way to phrase it, especially considering the way Luxu burst out laughing.

Why did he choose now of all times to be chatty? He couldn't properly respond in front of the other apprentices, but Ienzo in particular was a definite no-go. His apprehensiveness would definitely be handy in the future but feeding it too much would send him tattling straight to Ansem. If Ansem felt the need to get rid of him their plans would suffer major setback that would take  _far too long_  to set right.

"That's assuming I don't already have a contingency plan in place for the potential inevitably of such an occurrence." Having ditched the melodrama, Luxu now sounded conspiratorial.

While it wouldn't surprise Braig if such a thing was true, he'd prefer to no make things needlessly complicated at this stage.

He flashed the kid an unsavory grin. Predictably, Ienzo tensed up, shoulders hunching defensively. He was undoubtedly _glaring_  at Braig now.

"Listen kiddo, I've got a deal for ya. Ya get to wander around on yer own while I get the ice cream and when I come get ya and we go back to the castle ya don't mention it to the others. If anyone tries to approach ya in anyway, ya run right back to me, capiche?"

"Protecting a younger comrade! How noble and sweet!" Luxu praised.

This time Braig did supress an eye role. Ansem and the other apprentices may be puppets in the grand scheme of things but that didn't stop him from developing real bonds with them.

"I'd be concerned if you didn't." All of his previous statements had contained some form of teasing in them but now his teacher sounded dead serious and somewhat.... saddened?

As expected, Ienzo was conflicted. The boy never got to see as much of Radiant Garden as his curious heart and mind desired. Any chance he got to wander away from the castle, he took, with or without the consent of the actual adults. Why should now be any different? But Braig was being suspicious,  _purposefully_ on top of that. If he did anything bad during the time they were separated, Ienzo would hold himself at fault for not being more alert. However, Braig was telling him to come straight to him if strangers tried to interact with him. Surely if whatever he was going to do was bad, he'd tell Ienzo to just find a place to hide and wait for him to come find the younger apprentice? Although, he could simply be telling the shortest apprentice this to lure him into a false sense of security. Or he could simply be arrogant enough to believe it wouldn't matter either way.

Braig watched the boy struggle with a smug grin on his face, which did not make Ienzo's decision any easier. Finally, the boy nodded. The younger apprentice wasted no time turning his back on Braig and running off.

Luxu waited until the boy was out of sight before commenting again. "Weird how he trusts you'll actually be able to find him."

Braig shrugged. "He won't go too far if he wants everyone else to remain oblivious. Besides, the only ones who are likely to approach him are those two dumb brats who keep breakin' in." He spoke aloud.

The immediate area was empty aside from himself and he didn't find himself caring if someone was hiding. They could be easily dealt with.

"The better question is why are ya so talkative all of a sudden?" Braig inquired dryly.

Shockingly, Luxu was silent for a few moments. Then, he spoke. "My poor student was so disappointed when I wouldn't pay attention to him, so I decided to cheer him up!"

"Yeah, well now I wish you'd shut up!" Braig replied scathingly, only half joking.

He expected a witty remark or more fake despair but Luxu didn't reply. He stood around for a bit, waiting for a reply but his former teacher and coconspirator continued to be silent.

" _Fine_! Be that way!" Braig groaned in annoyance, dragging a gloved hand across his face.

He made his way to the ice cream stand. It was quiet when he got there, quiet when he placed his order, quiet when he accepted the treats and payed, quiet when he left to find Ienzo.

It was  _unnerving_ , especially after Luxu had decided he wanted to talk. The feeling of disappointment returned more prominently than before. He should've just kept his mouth shut.

"And you have the nerve to call me fickle?" Luxu's voice abruptly fills his head. It's soft,  _genuinely hesitant_ , in a way that rubs Braig the wrong way.

"Weren't you the one who pointed out that I wanted your attention?" he complains.

A laugh, dry and lackluster. "But why though? After putting up with me for nearly your entire life surely you'd welcome a reprieve?"

It's Braig's turn to laugh. "A reprieve? My entire life is a sham now! Nothing's been postponed just because you felt like bein' quiet for once!" he replies wryly. "If I really wanted a reprieve, I'd have used my keyblade to remove you long ago."

Apparently, that was the right thing to say because Luxu actually  _freaking giggles gleefully_. "Weren't you listening earlier? I'm not going anywhere!"

Braig smirks. "You'd better not! This whole thing was your idea!" he returns.

It was Luxu's Master's idea, but Luxu is carrying it out, so the majority of it is his idea.

" _Get back here!_ "

The shout is accompanied by the sound of footsteps at a pace that is easily identifiable as running. Braig doesn't have to look around much before he spots Ienzo, red in the face and panting tiredly, running away from two older boys; one with red hair and a yellow scarf and the other with blue hair and a moon on his jacket.

Despite his earlier apprehension, Ienzo's face lights up with relief when he spots Braig. He quickens his pace and is hiding behind his older comrade in no time, digging his fingers into the back of Braig's shirt anxiously.

Both boys eyes widen as they realize who Ienzo has taken refuge behind and they skid to a halt. The redhead frowns and his companion glares at Braig.

Braig meets their expressions with the same unsavory grin he gave Ienzo prior. "Well, well! What do we have here? It's not nice to chase after younger boys!" he sneers.

As expected, both of Ienzo's pursuer's make faces as his double entendre, which is highly appropriate since Ienzo is only twelve and the older boys are around fifteen, if Braig's not mistaken.

"We only want to ask him some questions!" the redhead exclaims, throwing an arm out to the side in emphasis.

"You can ask, but I don't think he'll respond. I can't remember the last time this brat-" Ienzo kicks the back of his leg for the nickname but Braig ignores him "-spoke. Maybe he's never even spoken at all!" Braig teases.

Blue hair–  _Isa_ , but not calling them by their names is a lot more fun – balls his hands into fists. "If you're going to lie, at least don't make it so obvious." he retorts.

Braig chuckles and glances back at Ienzo, who looks a bit dumbfounded. Everyone in the castle knows that Lea and Isa keep breaking in because they befriended one of the test subjects–  _the most important one_. It would seem a bit odd that the girl doesn't speak of her captors, but she probably doesn't want to taint her only connection to the outside world with unhappiness. Furthermore, the boys have been caught by everyone at some point but have never actually realized when Ienzo is the one to do so because he quietly goes to get an adult to handle the situation.

"I think ya made him feel insulted," Braig tells them, " but I know how to fix that."

He turns his back on the older boys to face Ienzo. The young scientist gives him a curious stare. Carefully, Braig gives nearly all the ice cream to Ienzo, who can barely hold it all. The last one he holds out in front of Ienzo's face. Ienzo's brows knit together in confusion before sailing upward as he realizes what Braig's intentions are. With a light blush, the young scientist leans forward and bites into the offered ice cream. Once his teeth are firmly sunk in, Braig releases his end.

The sight of the boy holding all the ice cream with his own in his mouth is both hilarious and cute.

" _Aw~! He's so adorable!_ " Luxu coos, "I hope he survives, it'd be a shame to lose such cuteness."

Braig counts himself lucky that he's the only one who can here Luxu, otherwise Ienzo would probably start kicking again.

"And he has the nerve to-" Rehead began, but whatever was about to be said was interrupted by his best friend.

"If you have  _any_ sense of self preservation, I suggest you keep quiet." Blue Hair groans, sounding slightly muffled.

The reason why is reveal when Braig turns back to them again. Apparently Isa–who has earned the right to having his name acknowledged since he prevented his friend from saying something that was no doubt monumentally stupid, especially if he was about to say what Braig thought he was–had found it necessary to double facepalm. Redhead is still frowning, looking more than a bit miffed.

"I'd listen to yer friend, runt," Braig says, giving the older boys a crooked smile. For good measure, he pounds his left fist into his right palm. "Who knows? Maybe one day he'll say something that'll  _save your life_."

Redhead snarls. Isa, even without being able to see Braig, quickly gets the message. Abandoning his previous position, he grabs his best friend by the arm and starts dragging him away. Redhead loudly protests and repeatedly tries to escape Isa's grip to no avail. Isa hisses something Braig can't hear which causes Redhead to relent to him. But not before shooting his mouth off one last time.

"This isn't over!" Redhead shouts, pointing at them aggressively.

"Seriously? How cliche can you get? He's a teenager, sure,  _but still!_ " Luxu complains.

Braig can't hear the groan Isa makes but he can see him swat his friend over the head. This causes Redhead to redirect his anger on to Isa. Braig can't help but chuckle as he watches the two chase each other until neither of them are in sight anymore. He hears a snort and it takes him a few seconds to realize it didn't come from Luxu.

"Somethin' ya find funny, kiddo?" he asks, glancing back at Ienzo.

Ienzo instantly tenses up, obviously not having expected to be called out. Though, it's not like he can reply with the ice cream still in his mouth. Or that he would reply even if it wasn't.

Luckily for him, Braig decides to finally have mercy on him. "Here, let me lighten yer load." he says, giving Ienzo a reassuring smile.

By the time he's facing the younger boy again Ienzo is already holding out the ice cream for him to take, which makes him laugh. Wordlessly, he accepts Ienzo's offerings. Once his hands are empty, Ienzo immediately grabs ahold of his own treat and yanks it out of his mouth. He quickly chews and swallows the ice cream left in his mouth then lets out a relieved sigh.

"C'mon, kiddo. Let's get back to the castle before this all melts, or else we'll never hear the end of it from Even." Braig says.

Ienzo nods in response. He loops his arm through one of Braig's since they can't hold hands and calmly eats his ice cream as they make their way back to the castle.

Dilan and Aeleus are standing gaurd at the entrance when they arrive. They greet Braig and Ienzo with a smile. Both of them ruffle Ienzo's hair, chuckling at the look of irritation he gives them.

"Keep a look out for those two brats who keep breakin' in. They harrassed the kid while we were out." Braig warns as he hands the men their ice cream.

"Will do." Dilan replies. Aeleus nods determinately in response.

Braig nods back then he and Ienzo head inside.

**Author's Note:**

> This ended up being longer than I thought it'd be. Why can Braig and Luxu easily communicate each other? I imagined it like a Riku and Riku Replica type deal. I'm not entirely satisfied with this but I hope you enjoyed nonetheless!


End file.
